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It is the most serious flare-up since Israel's Cast Lead Operation into Gaza over three years ago. Rockets are flying from Gaza and Israeli aircraft are pounding the Palestinian rocket squads. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have declared they're fed up with the terrorists launching rocket attacks whenever they feel like it and driving one million Israeli civilains racing for their bomb shelters. Analyst David Essing is of the opinion that the remarkable success of the IDF's Iron Dome Missile defense has proven to be a game changer in the confrontation.

Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons
one way or the other – that was the message from both
leaders. But although they agreed on the strategy it's not
certain they see eye to eye on the tactics. In the opinion of analyst David Essing the U.S.
President and the Israeli Prime Minister agreed on a
short-run modus operandi, but if it fails all bets are off.

The Obama-Netanyahu summit in Washington may very well seal Israel's future course of action against Iran and its drive to acquire nuclear weapons. Although the U.S.President can be expected to hail the success of sanctions in reining in North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Israel's leader is not likely to be convinced. IDF General (res.) Amos Yadlin, a former Military Intelligence Chief, is one of the very few Israelis who know the facts about a potential Israeli air strike on Iran's nuclear weapons program. On the eve of summit, IsraCast analyst David Essing reports on Yadlin's opinion piece in the New York Times; he also has a suggestion for Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Iran has actually stepped up its nuclear weapons program - that is the only reasonable conclusion from the latest IAEA report disclosed on February 23. The findings have vindicated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's position that the latest sanctions fall short of deterring Tehran. However, the U.S. intelligence community still contends that it has 'no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb'. Analyst David Essing is of the view the IAEA findings will lend urgency to Netanyahu's upcoming meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

Israel is bracing for a new round of Iranian and Hizbollah terror attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets world-wide. That was the message from the Counter-Terror Headquarters in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's bureau in Jerusalem. The global alert was issued after the flurry of Iranian terror attacks against Israeli diplomats in Georgia, Thailand and India. Analyst David Essing is of the view that while Tehran is retaliating for the international pressure on its nuclear weapons program, its spree of terror could trigger an even more dangerous escalation between Israel on one side and Iran and its Hizballah proxy on the other.

From their vantage point thousands of miles away, foreign pundits love nothing better than preaching to Israel on how to cope with the Iranian nuclear threat. Recently, Roger Cohen of the New York Times and Andrew Adler formerly of the Atlantic Jewish Times Weekly took diametrically opposed positions, but both were preposterous in their own right. They centered on U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Meanwhile, back in in Israel, Maj. Gen.(Ret.) Amos Yadlin, the former commander of the IDF intelligence branch, who actually knows the facts, discussed the current reality that analyst David Essing compared to the fantasizing of Adler and Cohen.

Gen. Amir Eshel, the commander of the IDF Planning Branch has presented a spell- binding look at the current and future threats to Israel. In a lecture entitled ' Planning for the Unknown - Israel's Ever Changing Strategic Reality', he outlined the challenges he has to face in the wake of the 'Arab Spring'. Speaking at the Institute for Contemporary Affairs in Jerusalem, Gen. Eshel stressed that Iran was at the top of his priority list. Analyst David Essing sums up the major points made by the commander who has responsibility for the IDF's force build-up.

What can be said about the Wall Street Journal article that the Obama administration has warned Israel against a military strike on Iran 'over U.S. objections' and has stepped up security for U.S. facilities in the region? It reflects shifting assessments by Jerusalem and Washington on Iran's going nuclear, with the stress on 'shifting'. Analyst David Essing notes the WSJ has also reported that the EU and Japan were now getting cold feet over an Iranian oil embargo.

While Syrian President Bashar Assad was talking of his certain victory in Damascus, IDF Chief Of Staff Benny Gantz was predicting his inevitable fall. In a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, Lt.Gen. Gantz also disclosed that he is preparing to grant refuge on the Golan Heights to Assad's Alewite supporters. David Essing sums up some other key assessments of Israel's high command for the new year.

Has the European Union decided to call Iran's bluff? That is the implication of an EU diplomat's dramatic disclosure: 'The principle of an oil embargo is agreed, it is not being debated any more'. The EU's foreign ministers are slated to vote for the embargo at their next meeting in Brussels on January 30th. Analyst David Essing is of the view the EU leak is aimed at exerting further pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program before a possible military confrontation in the Straits of Hormuz.

Israel's government and her Parliament are at odds over whether the Jewish state should officially recognize Turkey's responsibility for the massacre of some one and a half million Armenians in 1915. In spite of appeals by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Knesset's Education Committee discussed the issue but stopped short of voting on recognition. IsraCast analyst David Essing is of the view that with the Iranian nuclear crisis coming to a head in 2012, it is crucial that Israel will not cause any further deterioration in the already strained relations with Turkey.

For the second time in two weeks, a major explosion has severely damaged another Iranian nuclear facility. Who is behind these mysterious explosions, the assassination of nuclear experts, and the bugging of computers at centrifuge centers processing enriched uranium? Interviewed on the Voice of Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak assessed various aspects of the Iranian file shortly after Iranian rioters smashed their way into th British embassy in what was an obvious show of the Tehran regime's attitude to London. Analyst David Essing reads between the lines of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's guarded assessment of Israel's current approach to Iran's nuclear weapons program and what the rest of the world is or is not doing about it.

Inventor Joe Robinson, who is running in the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire on January 10th, has shown that his modification to car engines can get a vast increase in miles per gallon. In a thought provoking interview with David Essing, Robinson explained how his patented invention performed in tests, but why the oil corportations and General Motors have so far turned it down. The modification achieved 49% more miles per gallon, according to the EPA's Federal Test Procedure. His invention dealt with the question of what percentage of the fuel is used to operate the engine and what is the remaining percentage of the fuel that actually pushes the car down the road. The research is purely in the field of mechanical engineering - how to reroute the air-fuel mixture of a gasoline engine to increase net horsepower while significantly improving miles per gallon. In addition to his invention achieving vast savings for American car owners, it would obviously benefit the entire economy. Moreover Robinson argues that America's dependence on foreign oil is bankrupting the country, whereas the building and operating of refineries in the U.S. to produce gasoline from domestic coal, would create jobs and eliminate the import of oil. In his opinion, the U.S. gets four times as much acid rain from oil than it does from coal.

The Arab Spring has focused on Cairo, where the gigantic demonstrations in Tahrir Square have signaled Gen.Tantawi and his junta that they must go, and the sooner the better. In Jerusalem, the question was whether the radical Muslim Brotherhood will now rise to power and jeopardize the Israeli- Egyptian Peace Treaty. And also in the Egyptian capital, West Bank Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashal, who rules Gaza from Damascus, appeared together in a public display of friendship after their blood feud. David Essing reports on what all this may mean.

Israel's patience is wearing thin after repeated rocket attacks from Gaza have paralyzed much of southern Israel and forced over one million Israeli civilians into their bomb shelters for days on end. This was the message from IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz in a closed door briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Later the IDF spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, told reporters that only 'an intiated and planned IDF operation' could put a stop to the Palestinian rocketing of Israeli civilians. David Essing has this assessment of the current calm that may prove to be the quiet before the storm, if the Palestinian decide to launch more missiles into Israel.

The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, may soon disclose that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. If so, it will mark a milestone in Israel's campaign to alert the international community of the danger. In Israel, a public debate is now raging after the Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz newspapers disclosed that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak are pushing for an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. So how close could Israel be from going it alone against Iran? Analyst David Essing has this assessment.

If all goes according to plan, IDF Sergeant Gilad Shalit will be exchanged for 1027 Palestinian terrorists on October 18th. Although Israel refused to free some top Hamas terrorists, Hamas claims that it achieved 'more than 90% of its demands'. Hamas chief Haled Meshal has also indicated that he will launch more attacks to kidnap IDF soldiers to use as bargaining chips for freeing the remaining 8,000 terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons. Nonetheless, IsraCast analyst David Essing is of the view that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has massive public support for the lopsided prisoner swap.

The 'Arab Spring' erupted against the Jewish state in Cairo where a mob, protesting against the Supreme Military Council in Freedom Square, turned its rage against the Israeli embassy. They smashed through a security wall, recently constructed by the Egyptian authorities, broke into the embassy and threatened the six Israeli guards. The lives of the guards hand in the balance before they were rescued by Egyptian commandos at the last moment. The Egyptian incident came within days of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's threat to send his warships to break Israel's legal blockade of Gaza. Analyst David Essing is of the view the two incidents have illustrated the differing approaches by the Egyptian and Turkish leaderships to Israel amid the current chaos in the region.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and his Islamist regime is not taking No for an answer - the Turks have rejected the Palmer Report's finding that Israel's naval blockade of Gaza is legal. Ankara is now planning to go to the International Court of Justice in the Hague to contest the inquiry into the operation by Israeli naval commandos to prevent the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara and other ships from breaking Israel's legal blockade.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has also declared that Israel will pay by losing Turkey's friendship as well as suffering Turkish sanctions. Analyst David Essing is of the view the Mavi Marmara, like pirate ships of the past, sailed under false colors to Gaza and the affair has now revealed where Turkey is now headed.

All quiet on Israel's new front with Egyptian-controlled Sinai and Hamas-dominated Gaza, but for how long? The eight days of violence, triggered by the deadly Sinai attacks that killed eight Israelis, has strained Israeli- Egyptian relations more than any thing else since the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1979. Israel's top analysts have been assessing the current state of affairs after the border clash and the Palestinian diplomatic steps at the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state on the lines of 1967. David Essing sums up the views of Dr. Dore Gold, a former UN Ambassador and head of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs who has documented Al Qaeda's recent move into Sinai.